I realize it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Since we last met, our group has left Hue and is now settling in at our new hotel in Hanoi. It’s odd to think that Vietnam is just as varried when it comes to the cities as the United States is. From the hustle and bustle [...]

I know that I’ve been blogging a lot, but we’re moving so quickly from city to city that I probably leave out 95% of the things we do. On Sunday, our group traveled to the Mekong Delta. The people there are largely called “the boat people” and it’s no wonder why– I saw some of [...]

[^That means Goodbye Saigon^] We’re leaving Saigon tomorrow (Sunday morning) for the Mekong Delta. It’s going to be a three day trip in which we have a one night home stay and one night in a hotel before driving to the airport and heading to Hue (which is pretty close to the DMZ). [so if [...]

So at home studied the Cao Dai religion. They’re easily the most distinct religion here because it’s a mix of every religion. Instead of one of those “all paths to god” religions, it’s ideal is that all religions are actually the same. While I don’t quite buy the whole idea, their temple in Tay Ninh [...]

My two trips to the Saigon marketplace have been among my favorite experiences in Vietnam thus far. In this post, I’d like to document my experience, and my transformation from a polite, bashful American to a competent haggler. But first, the marketplace warrants a description in itself. It’s a short walk to the markets from [...]

At the beginning of the week, we went to the war remnants museum as a group. Before we went, some of us voiced our concerns about being a relatively large group of American students in a museum about the war we had with Vietnam. We were assured that we would be treated like every other patron, which [...]

Our Augie group arrived in Saigon on Saturday. The realization hit me as we were landing that we were finally here. It still seems surreal. On our first day, we visited a Chinese market with our tour guide leading the way. In a way it was nice because the Tet holiday ends on Monday (we [...]

So the countdown has already begun for my study abroad term. I know that Vietnam seems like an unlikely choice, so in response to the numerous questions already posed and those that have gone unasked, I’ve decided to make a post on why I chose this particular foreign term. LONG, LONG AGO… okay I’m lying. [...]